Getty LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Paul George of the Indiana Pacers.
It’s no secret that the Cleveland Cavaliers took significant input from LeBron James in team-building decisions during the player’s time in Lake Erie. That includes the decision to ship Andrew Wiggins to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Love after James returned to the Cavs from the Miami Heat in 2014.
For the next four seasons, LeBron and the Cavaliers were the toast of the Eastern Conference. But the team regularly faced stiff competition against the Western Conference’s superpower Golden State Warriors.
Yes, the Cavs were loaded with James, Love, and Kyrie Irving, but the Warriors had Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and later on Kevin Durant.
So in 2017, James hatched a plan with Paul George to bring the Pacers star to Cleveland, something George revealed recently on his podcast.
“I’m chopping it up with’ Bron, like ‘Yo, how can we make this work?’ We’re trying to figure it out; he’s going back to [the Cavaliers’ front office], telling them how to get me. So I’m thinking like, ‘Oh, OK, we might make this happen. I might be with’ Bron over here in Cleveland,'” George said.
Paul George says he almost teamed up with LeBron in Cleveland
Toronto, Boston, and San Antonio were additional potential landing locations.
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What happened to the burgeoning super team?
“It fell through ’cause Cleveland and Indiana are in the same division,” George finished.
Ultimately, James left the following season for the Los Angeles Lakers. James’ unwillingness to commit to Cleveland long-term no doubt also hampered a potential trade for George.
Darius Garland Praises Donovan Mitchell After Breaking LeBron James’ Cavaliers Record
Two years ago, the prospect of a James-George-Irving-Love starting crew might have been maddeningly tantalizing for Cavaliers fans.
But now, the Cavaliers have a new fierce foursome in Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Donovan Mitchell. The latter of which even broke James’ recent record of most 40-point games in a single Cavaliers season after his 12th 40-point night on Sunday against the Pacers.
“That’s what Don does,” Garland said of Mitchell after the game, per cleveland.com. “He’s elite. All-NBA player. An MVP candidate. What else can you ask for from a guy like that?”
To break a record held by LeBron James? Garland had one word to describe it.
“It’s legendary,” Garland continued. “It’s a bucket. It just shows the work that he puts in and the ability to go out and do it at a high level for a stretch like that. I’m super proud of him. I want him to be more aggressive, want him to get to 40-and 50-balls, whatever it takes to win the game.”
Those four deserve much credit for pulling the Cavaliers out of the NBA‘s treadmill of mediocrity.
JB Bickerstaff Praises Cavaliers Front Office
But so too does the Cavaliers’ front office, one that made shrewd draft decisions and trade acquisitions to put the team on pace for its first playoff appearance since 2018.
The front office has set a top-down approach to culture building, something JB Bickerstaff noted recently.
“I think organizationally this is a big deal to come from where we came from and every year continue to take steps in the right direction,” Bickerstaff said after the game, per the Cavaliers’ official YouTube channel. “All the hard work that people in this organization have put in to help get us here should be acknowledged. This is top-down. This is something that has been done as a collective. We told the guys to enjoy this, but we ain’t done yet.”
The Cavaliers are back in action Tuesday against the Orlando Magic.